Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-05-13
MONTPELIER.


Although the first meeting was at the
early hour of s n. m, Bethany chapel was
nearly filed After Introductory exer-
cises DIR. Pentecost gave an awakening
and helpful address to Christians upon
the duty of service. 1t was varied by IL
Illustrations from his experience and
abundantly supported by passages of
scripture. Christ was the son of God
yet he was pleased to call himself the Son
of Man And he was servant of all. So
Christians should join service with SON
ship. No Christian can call himself a
son unless he is also servant Chris
tians naturally love TO quote such pas
sages as Come unto me all ye who labor
and are heavy laden and | will give you
rest !" but they should continue the quo
tation "Take my yoke upon you" 1t j.
pleasant to think of Christians dong
more for ms than we can ask or even
think. But this passage is turned inside
out by the eXhortation of the Apostle
Therefore be We steadfasJ, immovable.
always Astounding in the work of the
LORD" DIR. p. referred to a minister
whom he heard lead meeting in Chca
40 who read the above passage. There
fore be We steadfast, immovable, always
avoiding the work of the Lord" and then
ne went on to name the various excuses
Lords work. How many business men,
plan to do more work for Christ as they
do their own business A man in Scot
land came to hear Mr.. Stebbins sing. He
did not care to become Christian. But
soon was upon his knees and found
Christ. A once he grasped the Evangel
ist's Bible and went to a friend in the
room and read the 10th chapter of Ro-
mans which had brought light to his soul
and soon This friend was rejoicing in the
Saviour. Scripture assures us that as the
man of business left to each servant his
work so Christ gives us all Il work to do.
In the afternoon at 3 o'clock the Bap-
list church was nearly full at the Bible
reading The preacher read the story of
Lazarus and gave an address of over an
hour IN length which it is impossible to
reproduce in limited space. 1t was
highly interesting and stimulating and
helpful to faith in the multitudes of les
sons drawn from the narrative. Thou
are spiritually dead all around us. And
we should do as the sisters of Lazarus did,
senc for Jesus. We should pray for them
as the old colored man in Kentucky on
an estate adjoining DR.. Pentecost's home
prayed fox one of his neghbors. After
praying all night he would go to the cabin
ioor Of his friend and tell him he had
been praying all night for him and ask
him il he was converted. Such prayers
would surely be answered.
II.
door we were TO remove all obstacles. A
Joung man in an inquiry room in Boston
was unbeieving and denounced all Chris
tians as either hypocrites or fools. Upon
being asked if his mother was Chris
clan he replied that no one had right to
ask such n question about his mother.
But finally he sobbed out il she is a Chris
tan why has she never spoken to me
about my soul. The young man was un
der deep conviction but his careless and
worldly minded mother had never done
her duty by her son.
IL we only have faith then the spiritual
y dead can be raised to life. The even
ing sermon was upon |. John iii 1. There
fore the world knoweth us not because it
knew h1n not, The Methodist church
was full. The preacher set forth the fact
shat as the world did not know Christ in
his true character so it did not know
Christians The object of the sermon was
to prove shat Jesus Christ was the Son of
God. a convincing array of passages
were cited that the divinity of Christ was
announced before his birth, was recog-
niz ed by II disciples and by all true be-
levers and by evil spirits, while it was
the theme of discussion among all men,
between Christ and His disciples and the
basis of His accusation of blasphemy at
His trial before the high priest. His di-
vinity was proved at His death and by
His resurrection.
MONDAYS SERVICES.
On Monday DR.. Pentecost gave de-
iightful talk in the Baptist church on the
I'D Psalm He thought he would not
need TO read it as the audience might re
peat it. And they did so. He said that
he found on both sides of the water that
this Scripture was the most familiar with
the exception of the Lords prayer. Audi
ences could not repeat the commandments
as they could this psalm. 1t was appropri-
ate at all times in sickness or health, joy
or sorrow. The author and source of this
psalm is living now. We are not to think
of it as composed some thousands of years
ago, but as indicated by the holy spirit as
a special message to us individually. For
over an hour the speaker discoursed upon
this touching theme, limiting his remarks
20 the first works, 1.-The Lord is my Shep-
herd"
The name Lord written in capital letters
is equivalent to Jehovah and is the same
as Christ on the Saviour in the new For
Christ says in the New Testament am
the good shepherd. In the 9th psalm we
read, The Lord is my Light and in the
New Testament Christ says, II am the
Light of the World"
Then when the psalmist says that the
Lord is his shepherd it is equivalent to
saying that he is the Lords sheep. Why
are Christians compared to sheep and not
TO goats Not because of their innocence
for Christians are not innocent. But be
cause of their helplessness. The goat is
an independent creature rs men are be-
fore their conversion. But sheep need q
defender because they cannot fight and
are Frey for dogs and other enemies
Again sheep are silly, and 80 are Chris
tians. Sheep do not know enough to &c
to pasture, but must be led. So Christians
do not know enough to get their nourish
ment from the Bible although they may
nave it in their houses.
An Eastern shepherd said that he knew
ali his sheep by name. And upon being re
luested called out several from the flock
Upon being asked how he could distin
guish between them the shepherd replied
that one had scar and another had lost
part OF an ear, and so on. So Christians
could be known to God by their faults:
Emphasis was laid upon the fact that
che Lord is my shepherd. We could indi
vidually look to Him as One who Is watch
ing over as in all our lives
The idea of individual possession wa
illustrated by an anecdote of the doctors
L